Super Flower Blood Moon rising high in the sky late Sunday night

Night owls and extra early birds will be in for a treat early this week!

This month’s full moon will also be a “Blood Moon”, as it undergoes a lunar eclipse, taking on a reddish hue between 11pm Sunday through 1am Monday.

The prenumbral eclipse begins as early as 9:32pm Sunday night, but the moon will not appear red until the partial eclipse begins at 10:27pm.

Eclipse totality begins at 11:29pm and continues through 12:53am Monday morning, which means the total lunar eclipse will last approximately 85 minutes. Maximum eclipse totality occurs at 12:12am Monday morning.

Share Your Lunar Eclipse Photos with Me!

What is a lunar eclipse?

A lunar eclipse occurs when the full moon moves into the shadow of Earth. It is at this point that the moon, Earth and sun are exactly or closely aligned.

Lunar Eclipse (Courtesy: NASA) A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth is align with the sun, and the moon moves through the Earth's shadow. (Image: NASA)

As the moon moves into the Earth’s shadow, the moon’s surface begins to darken and eventually a color shift occurs.

Why is it called a “Blood Moon”?

“Blood Moons” receive their nickname as the moon shifts from the more common white to a reddish hue.

But what is causing this color change?

As the moon moves into Earth’s shadow, the Earth blocks all sunlight from reaching the moon’s surface. The only light that is reaching the moon is light that has traveled through Earth’s atmosphere, which filters out all blue wavelengths and only allows reddish wavelengths to pass through.

As a result, only reddish light is able to travel from Earth to the moon -- which is then reflected back to Earth for us to see.

Why is it called a Supermoon?

At times during the moon’s orbit around the Earth, the moon will be closer to Earth. This is known as perigee, and at this time, the moon appears bigger and brighter than normal. This is when the moon receives the nickname of “supermoon”, first coined in 1979.

The opposite is known as a “micromoon” which happens when the moon is at its furthest distance from the Earth, known as “apogee”.

Why is it called a Flower Moon?

According to timeanddate.com, “the Full Moon of May is known as the ‘Flower Moon’ to signify the flowers that bloom during this month”.

Share your photos with me!

If you are a shutter bug with an eye on the sky, we would love to see your photos of the Blood Moon! Share your photos with us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram!